2010 Low Income Initiative Progress Report

Grants and Investments

In 2000, Entergy Corporation unveiled the Entergy Charitable Foundation (ECF) a nonprofit venture dedicated to assisting anti-poverty, education and literacy programs throughout the company's service territory, to provide somewhere for low-income people to turn. The goal of ECF is to support initiatives that help create and sustain thriving communities with a special focus on low-income initiatives as well as educational and literacy programs. Particularly for low-income people like Gwendolyn, ECF seeks programs that provide for innovative and measurable ways to positively impact families and their ability to support those most vulnerable, the children and the elderly.

Some of these programs are:

• Sustaining families and self-sufficiency
• Technical assistance and training for nonprofits
• Housing
• Home-ownership preparation
• Energy management and awareness
• Innovative use and promotion of alternative sources of energy

GrantStation memberships yield more than 220 percent return on investment to communities.

In addition to ECF grants, Entergy works through its Low-Income Customer Assistance Initiative to fund projects that assist community advocates in helping the people they and Entergy serve. In 2008, the Entergy initiative purchased 64 memberships to GrantStation and gave them to nonprofits based in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. GrantStation, an online funding resource for organizations seeking grants throughout the world, provides access to a comprehensive online database of grantmakers as well as other valuable tools, to help organizations make smarter, better-informed fundraising decisions.

The initial investment for the memberships was $14,655. A year later, the amount of grants acquired in the communities Entergy serves is more than 220 times the investment, or more than $3.2 million in awarded grants and $2.4 million in pending grants.